Top tips for tip top Christmas sales

By Josh Hall

Christmas is a vitally important period for retailers across the
country. Indeed, many firms make the overwhelming bulk of their revenue
during the festive season. As a retailer it is therefore important that
you capitalise on the vastly increased spending that happens at this
time of year.

Here are our five top tips for increasing your Christmas sales.

Boost your marketing spend

The Christmas period inevitably causes a scrum amongst retailers keen to
attract custom. You need to be visible if you are to get customers
through the door – and this means boosting your marketing efforts.

Many small firms neglect marketing at the best of times, considering it
to be the preserve of large corporations. But study after study has
shown the importance of marketing for SMEs – and this is particularly
true at Christmas.

Consider expanding your marketing efforts, either by increasing your
existing activities or by investigating new methods. High-impact,
short-term campaigns are likely to be particularly effective over the
Christmas period, so you may wish to consider direct mail or similar
techniques to increase consumer awareness of your business.

Up-sell and cross sell

Once you have attracted a customer it is important that you try to
maximise their spending. Up-selling and cross-selling are simple but
very effective techniques that can be neglected by smaller businesses
during busy periods.

The potential benefits of up selling and cross selling can be easily
illustrated by considering a transaction in a big-name coffee shop. The
server will begin by asking if you would like a medium or large sized
coffee (never a small), and will more than likely suggest a food item to
go with your drink. The average customer spend is increased
significantly, simply by using the power of suggestion.

You can increase the use of up-selling and cross-selling by providing a
loose script to your staff members, encouraging them to suggest other,
related items to customers. You should also think carefully about the
placement of products if you are running a shop; for example, if you are
selling nuts, make sure there are nutcrackers nearby.

Differentiate yourself

Every retailer worth its salt will be making some extra effort around
Christmas and, while this is sensible for each individual business, the
collective result can be overwhelming for consumers.

Think about your local High Street at Christmas; the tinsel is out,
everything is red and there is a fat Father Christmas in every window.
The shops just merge into one.To stand out from the crowd you must think
about ways that you can effectively differentiate your business. If you
can concentrate on unique aspects of your business, or introduce new
marketing or presentation ideas that set you apart from your immediate
competitors, you will attract more custom.

Consider what makes your firm unique in normal trading circumstances -
whether that is a particular product offering or especially good
customer service - and stress this aspect of your business.

This year compete on price

Given the continuing financial worries facing many consumers, price is
likely to be a deal-breaker for shoppers this year. Consider running
high-visibility pricing offers; you might choose, for example, to
undercut your competitors on certain loss-leading items, or offer a
discount on a second purchase.

Combine this with the increased marketing efforts discussed earlier; for
example, if you are running a direct mail campaign make sure that any
festive special offers are prominently featured.

Remember, however, that low prices don’t compensate for great customer
service. Studies have shown that being treated as a valued customer is
equally as important as low prices.

Concentrate on online

According to some reports, 2009 will be the first year that consumers do
more Christmas shopping online than on the High Street. It is therefore
vital that you concentrate on your online offering.If you do not already
have a website with e-commerce facilities it is highly unlikely that you
will be able to build one in time for the Christmas rush. However, in
this case you should make sure your shop is visible on as many online
directories as possible.

This is where many people are searching for products and services these
days and appearing on these sites will help you to be found in search
engines.

If you do have an online store you should ensure that it is as visible
as possible. You might wish to consider increasing your spend on online
advertising services like Google Adwords, in order to ensure that your
site catches the eye of customers searching for products that you offer.

Similarly, you should make sure that your web address is highlighted on
all of your marketing material. You may also wish to consider offering
time-limited deals, like free shipping over the Christmas period. Offers
of this sort are likely to bring in much more than they cost and, if
nothing else, they will increase customer awareness of your business.

Christmas is a stressful time for retailers, many of whom have to deal
with stressed customers and long hours. However, the festive period can
also be particularly profitable. If you put some thought into your
marketing efforts, and consider your sales tactics, you can make the
most of increased customer spending this Christmas.